ANA Holdings Inc. on Wednesday lowered its full-year profit outlook after the yen's decline against the dollar pushed up fuel costs and the grounding of the Dreamliner fleet slowed its network expansion.
Net income in the year ending March 31 is forecast at ¥15 billion, Japan's largest airline said in a statement, lagging behind the ¥39.8 billion average of 15 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. ANA had earlier predicted a profit of ¥45 billion. The airline also slashed its revenue and operating profit forecasts for the fiscal year.
The carrier pays dollars for fuel, which got expensive as the yen weakened about 20 percent last quarter from a year earlier. ANA, the world's largest operator of Boeing Co. 787 aircraft, and Japan Airlines Co. both took a hit to their sales this year after their Dreamliner fleets were grounded for more than four months following the melting of lithium-ion batteries on planes.
ANA, which has ordered 66 of the 787s in total, had 23 planes in its fleet at the end of last month. JAL has ordered 45 of the aircraft and had received 11 by the end of last month, according to Boeing.
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